Soccer Team Finances

[SandraB]

My daughter plays on a California youth soccer team. The official team manager stated he was disbanding the team and donating the team money to a charity. There are 11 families remaining that are continuing with the team. The team has a bank account with the team name on the checks and the manager's name on the check. All checks deposited into this account were made out to the team and not the manager. There were sponsors that donated money to the team and fundraisers for the team. Can the manager take the money and do as he pleases with the money or does the money belong to the team? I would appreciate any advice at this point since some people in the league feel the money belongs to the manager. Thank you!!!

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My daughter plays on a California youth soccer team. The official team manager stated he was disbanding the team and donating the team money to a charity. There are 11 families remaining that are continuing with the team. The team has a bank account with the team name on the checks and the manager's name on the check. All checks deposited into this account were made out to the team and not the manager. There were sponsors that donated money to the team and fundraisers for the team. Can the manager take the money and do as he pleases with the money or does the money belong to the team? I would appreciate any advice at this point since some people in the league feel the money belongs to the manager. Thank you!!!

My response:

What is the logic of the Manager to take that money and donate it to charity ? But for the team having been in existence, there would have been no money for him to "donate". The money does not belong to the Manager.

If anything, and since the "official" team does not exist, the money should rightly go back to the persons or companies that gave the money to the original team.

However, since there is no official team, there is no one who has "legal standing" to do anything about it; with the possible exception of those persons or companies that contributed the money in the first place.

If I was a company or person that contributed to the original team, and it was my intent that the original team use the money, the Manager would have a real problem with me if he donated my money to charity without my consent. Remember, the Manager may have "control" of that money, but that money is certainly not his to do with as he chooses or pleases. The manager is merely the Trustee of MY money, to see to it that MY money is spent as I had intended. If the Manager gives that money to charity, those who originally gave the money should be reimbursed on a pro-rata basis. If they aren't, then the Manager can, and should, be sued for Breach of Fiduciary Duty.

Also, if I had given to the team, and I found out that MY money was given to charity (which was never my intent), then the team, or any other team, would play hell to ever get another penny from me again.

IAAL

 

[SandraB]

The team is still "officially" registered as a team. There was no break of registration only a change of "official" manager. There is a newly registered manager who is trying to retrieve the money from the previous manager. The previous manager claims he was the "founder" of the team and is entitled to do as he wishes with the money. The league says and I quote, "Without a federal tax id number,
the manager's social security number would have been used to open the team account. The money collected belongs to him, to do with what he chooses." Every check posted to this account was written payable to the order of the team not the individual. Is it legally his? All coach's fees, uniforms, and registration fees went through this account. Thank you for any advice you can give...the 11 families really appreciate it.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

If the team is registered with AYSO, then the new team Manager has "legal standing" to sue the prior Manager.

Like I said, that money was only given to the prior Manager "in trust", not ownership.

With the exception of the above, please re-read what I have already written.

IAAL